You know that moment when you arrive somewhere and you know it was meant to be? Or when you receive what you ask for in life? When our family was coming together we were in the midst of living in our new farmhouse when my husband got orders to move to NYC. Needless to say we were about to leave for the hospital so I could give birth to twin girls! That same night, November 13th, Friday the 13th to be exact I was also let go from a contract sales consultant job I had with a very popular cable company. The signs were all there. It was time to leave our new house and finally move to the city (we asked for this). We decided the actual city of New York wouldn’t work for our large, growing family and two dogs would be packing it in to say the least.

Our humble begininngs

So after viewing a nice new home on realtor.com several times, we just knew this place in Pawling, NY needed to be investigated. Almost four years later, we were pressed with the very real fact that the house would not be ours. We had a home in Annapolis, Md and our renters lease would be up on January 1st. My husband’s employer had changed to another high profile cable company and he primarily worked from home. With our immediate families in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, it was a no-brainer: it was time to come home and say goodbye to New York.

We moved into my parents home in Leesburg, VA (very humbling experience) and on Friday January 3rd, 2014 we were moving back into our new-old house; boxes everywhere, movers coming to and fro, family members roaming, friends unpacking, and the mess our renters left us with (we still have his stuff here) bred pure chaos. My Dad actually told me he hadn’t seen a couple married for 40 years with this much stuff so in the box it went to charity. Humbling experience.

I have to say coming from Annapolis, MD and my husband primarily from the Baltimore area, we were strong to begin with but New York changed everything for us-we had to buck up to the plate-we got stronger. Leaving also your hometowns for the first time was exciting and nerve racking all at the same time. We didn’t know our way around the Hudson Valley from a hole in the wall (when we left we were still having directional difficulties!) so to say the least we spent a great deal of time in Danbury, CT. This we could manage.

I believe Pawling, NY and the whole of the Hudson Valley is exceptionally unique. It became a place where I took long breaths; where I smiled at the mountains strolling down Rt. 84 to Poughkeepsie (my doctor’s office). I loved that no one knew me there; that there wasn’t a chance I’d run into anyone, like weren’t you Janice in The Wedding Crashers? Like, no I’m not. They all would be unique New Yorkers, born and breed, strong and I would bring something different and exciting to their world and I think my husband and I did that. We loved that we were living in New York; we loved that we could cruise into the city when we wanted (this was infrequent) and come back to our beautiful home. At one point we were pondering staying in Pawling, building a home there but it never happened. We couldn’t ignore the fact that we had a chance to be near family, to have family dinners together; so our kids would really know their grandparents. Not a twice a year visit or a few or even summer vacations together, but really grow up together. When the decision was made, I mourned leaving New York and sometimes I still do.

Just recently I saw photos of the garden I cultivated with my husband and twin daughters in Pawling and it made me cry, painfully cry. Those were moments I will never forget and they started there in Pawling. The Pawling newspaper gave me my first chance to write for them; the Pawling Public Radio station gave me a voice to broadcast to more folks, and the Pawling Public Library taught my little ones how to love books. Irwin and the Poughkeepsie Journal gave me the chance here to reach YOU. Whoever glanced at my blogs, thank you for taking time out of your day to support me and my time here. If you posted a comment, you are amazing. Thank you. I know how busy you are. Right now I’m supposed to be at two pre schools and finding my husband a very thoughtful birthday present (January 16th) but I can’t stop blogging. I love it. It’s very therapeutic.

If expressing your thoughts and feelings about parenting issues, potty training tips, delicious family dinner recipes and your teenage daughter’s drama helps other parents out there, then this blogging gig is for you. It’s a helpful way to express yourself and feel good about your words entering cyberspace. There’s so much negativity out there, why read more of it? If you’d like to blog here and you think your thoughts, feeling and experiences can help other families, then the job is an open vast adventure for you. Write away. I’m onto another adventure-taking care of my new-old home and starting from scratch again; waiting for spring to plant again and see new growth, to watch my girls take in their first dance recital where my parents played as kids. It’s bittersweet. I love my new-old home too and I think it’s glad to have me back. Our neighbors heaved a sigh of relief when we came back also which was delightfully refreshing. As the French say, Merci and Au Revoir. It’s been my pleasure!!

Recently my husband implored me to watch this film; he had already caught it on another evening and told me I had to watch it and he’d watch it alongside of me again.

I’m not a patient movie-goer. As an actress myself, I won’t go see movies in the cinema, I won’t watch them with friends or my Mom, unless I know it’s going to be an absolute HIT. Like all of our time spent doing something, it’s got to be worth it but listen, I’m a nut. I’m involved in a lot of things. I’m almost never bored and I have a to-do list a mile long……….so if I participate in watching a film, it better be good and “Identity Thief” was that good.

Starring Jason Bateman who by the way has made a huge comeback into movies and the indomitable Melissa McCarthy, just put it to you this way, I laughed out loud everywhere and in one scene near the end when their jig is up, I’m almost to tears. I was surprised actually because I didn’t think Melissa could do it, that is bring me to tears but she did and it was well worth all the antics these two got involved in, only to wait for it-her to steal the show, like she does almost so well in every movie she’s in!

Moral of the film: please don’t think it won’t happen to you; like you won’t get your identity stolen when you’re buying Christmas presents all over the web: Amazon, EBay, LL Bean, etc. Those hackers are waiting to steal your identity and those bad guys or gals, won’t be as forgiving as some. Protect yourself and your precious identity so you won’t lose sleep over someone buying a kayak with your credit card, oh and rent the movie and laugh your keister off!